Group H: Title holders lose in Lithuania, Peristeri get the last ticket to Play-In
With Rytas Vilnius defeating Lenovo Tenerife, it was clear Peristeri bwin and Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya were in a battle for survival. The Greek squad pulled away in the fourth quarter to prolong the season.
MIES (Switzerland) - With Rytas Vilnius defeating Lenovo Tenerife, it was clear Peristeri bwin and Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya were in a battle for survival. The Greek squad pulled away in the fourth quarter to prolong the season - at least to January.
The defending champs secured first spot in the group before their matchup in Lithuania, but they were still competitive facing the Lithuanian champions. Rytas Vilnius were up for most of the game, and at 73-70 in the fourth, it seemed like Tenerife were going to overtake them.
That's when Martynas Echodas committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Sergio Rodriguez. However, with six minutes left in the game, Rodriguez missed both of his shots from the line, Marcelinho Huertas could not convert the three-pointer either, and Rytas Vilnius knew it was their chance to run away once more.
Gytis Masiulis made a big three-pointer, Gytis Radzevicius added another and coach Giedrius Zibenas got to celebrate an 85-78 win over Lenovo Tenerife.
Marcus Foster was in MVP form, again, getting a game-high 21 points, with 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals to his name, too. Elvar Fridriksson counted to 19 to push Rytas through as the second-placed team from Group H.
They will face PAOK mateco in the Play-In Series, with home court advantage.
Israeli State Cup winners out
Since Rytas broke the three-way tie of teams with two wins, it was clear that the season ended for the loser of the Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya v Peristeri bwin matchup. They went back and forth until the fourth quarter, when the eighth lead change happened - the last one.
Herzliya were up 73-72 as Maurice Kemp made his free throws with just over seven minutes left. But Sylvain Francisco inspired a 10-1 run with five points of his own, putting the game out of Israeli squad's reach.
It finished 90-87, good enough to earn coach Vasilis Spanoulis a ticket to the Play-In Series from the third spot. Marcus Denmon scored 25, Francisco finished with 21, while Miro Bilan put together a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Maurice Kemp had 32 in a losing effort, getting back-to-back 30+ point games in the BCL, but it wasn't enough for Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya to extend their season to 2023.
Peristeri will be there, facing JDA Bourgogne Dijon without home court advantage in the best-of-three series.
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Lenovo Tenerife * | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 | 512 | 427 | 85 | 85.3 | 71.2 | 10 | |
| 2 | Rytas Vilnius** | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.0 | 505 | 493 | 12 | 84.2 | 82.2 | 9 | |
| 3 | Peristeri bwin** | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.0 | 459 | 495 | -36 | 76.5 | 82.5 | 9 | |
| 4 | Bnei Ofek Dist Herzliya | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33.3 | 468 | 529 | -61 | 78 | 88.2 | 8 | |